malibuboats91
New Member
Hey everyone I'm new here and need some help figuring out what's going on with my well system. I have a shallow point well at my cottage that consists of a 20' deep 2" pipe with a 16' 1" PVC pipe inside of it. Since I opened up my cottage about 5 weeks ago I have been experiencing air in the lines. When I would flush the toilet or run the sinks it would sound like fireworks were going off in the toilet and I would get sprayed by the water out of the faucet. I first thought it was just the hot water, but it ended up being both hot and cold. I bled air out of the hot water heater and still nothing.
I noticed that I would lose prime during the week when I wasn't up there, so I checked the cottage for leaks and found out that the toilet was leaking. I fixed that and was also advised to replace the check valve for some reason. Upon doing so I also put soap water on all my pipe fittings and nothing was leaking on the suction side. I don't lose prime, but the air is still present so I began messing around with the pressure switch and the pressure tank PSI. It was first set at 40/60 with the tank at 38 PSI, then I turned it down to 35/50 with the tank at 28 PSI. The change in pressure didn't help other than the fact that the air was less forceful. I noticed that when I turn on the water full blast in my pump house, after awhile the pressure gauge will drop below the 30 or 40 cut in (depending on what I have it set at) and the needle will rapidly shake and the pump will make a clicking noise so I thought maybe my well was going dry, but wasn't quite sure. I would the valve to let pressure build back up, then I'd turn the water back on and notice a burst of air when the pump kicked in.
Yesterday I decided to go talk to the hardware store and spoke with a guy who said I should start from the point and work my way back to the cottage. He told me to drop a string down the point and see how much water I have. I did that and came to the conclusion that I have 12' of water. The next thing he told me to do was pour water into the point and it should not fill up with water. I dumped about 15 gallons of water in there and it would fill up, but then the water level would decrease quickly. At first I thought that during high demand my well was going dry, but then I got those same buckets and turned the water on and noticed that I was getting air after running under 3 gallons of water out of the faucet. Sometimes I could even get the pump to lose prime with letting out 3ish gallons. Next, I moved onto looking at the pressure tank. I read that when I push the Schrader valve there shouldn't be any water coming out of the bladder and when I did it my hand got completely soaked. I thought then that the pressure tank bladder was shot.
Last night I went to the hardware store and upgraded my 6 gallon tank to a 20 gallon tank. My pump is a 3/4 HP that pumps 10 GPM @ 30 PSI so they said it should be fine. Does that sound right? Anyways, I hooked it up and flushed my system and released the air in my hot water heater. Everything seems fine except for the toilet still makes a 'fizzing' noise, but there are no bursts anymore.
Sorry for the long story, but I've just about had it with my plumbing fiasco and figured I should reach out to more knowledgeable people so I can get this solved. Does it sound like I went through the correct procedures to diagnose my issue? Does it sound like the pressure tank was my issue? What about the toilet? Thanks in advance!!
I noticed that I would lose prime during the week when I wasn't up there, so I checked the cottage for leaks and found out that the toilet was leaking. I fixed that and was also advised to replace the check valve for some reason. Upon doing so I also put soap water on all my pipe fittings and nothing was leaking on the suction side. I don't lose prime, but the air is still present so I began messing around with the pressure switch and the pressure tank PSI. It was first set at 40/60 with the tank at 38 PSI, then I turned it down to 35/50 with the tank at 28 PSI. The change in pressure didn't help other than the fact that the air was less forceful. I noticed that when I turn on the water full blast in my pump house, after awhile the pressure gauge will drop below the 30 or 40 cut in (depending on what I have it set at) and the needle will rapidly shake and the pump will make a clicking noise so I thought maybe my well was going dry, but wasn't quite sure. I would the valve to let pressure build back up, then I'd turn the water back on and notice a burst of air when the pump kicked in.
Yesterday I decided to go talk to the hardware store and spoke with a guy who said I should start from the point and work my way back to the cottage. He told me to drop a string down the point and see how much water I have. I did that and came to the conclusion that I have 12' of water. The next thing he told me to do was pour water into the point and it should not fill up with water. I dumped about 15 gallons of water in there and it would fill up, but then the water level would decrease quickly. At first I thought that during high demand my well was going dry, but then I got those same buckets and turned the water on and noticed that I was getting air after running under 3 gallons of water out of the faucet. Sometimes I could even get the pump to lose prime with letting out 3ish gallons. Next, I moved onto looking at the pressure tank. I read that when I push the Schrader valve there shouldn't be any water coming out of the bladder and when I did it my hand got completely soaked. I thought then that the pressure tank bladder was shot.
Last night I went to the hardware store and upgraded my 6 gallon tank to a 20 gallon tank. My pump is a 3/4 HP that pumps 10 GPM @ 30 PSI so they said it should be fine. Does that sound right? Anyways, I hooked it up and flushed my system and released the air in my hot water heater. Everything seems fine except for the toilet still makes a 'fizzing' noise, but there are no bursts anymore.
Sorry for the long story, but I've just about had it with my plumbing fiasco and figured I should reach out to more knowledgeable people so I can get this solved. Does it sound like I went through the correct procedures to diagnose my issue? Does it sound like the pressure tank was my issue? What about the toilet? Thanks in advance!!
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